The present invention relates to a protective facial mask for the protection of the operating surgeon, the medical staff et al, against the effects of secretions and blood of patients suffering from the immune deficiency disease AIDS, consisting of a mask blank with laterally fitted fastening tapes.
Due to the spreading immune deficiency disease AIDS, the precautionary measures normally taken hitherto for protecting the medical staff are no longer sufficient. It is thus necessary, among other things, to protect the eyes of the medical staff against contact with secretions and blood of patients. The spectacles or goggles used for this purpose do fulfil their protective functions, it is true, but they do create a host of new problems:
Spectacles are objects tied to persons, which means that the respective owner is compelled to take care of and look after a further object. The change of clothing within operating areas is sufficiently known as the cause of loss of personal objects. PA0 Even when carefully looked after, spectacles are by now means near-sterile objects, which means that, in an operation, the spectacles of the surgeon can become the cause of an infection. PA0 A person not normally wearing glasses will only with difficulty acquire the knack of wearing them and, due to their being unfamiliar, said person will often not wear them. PA0 The combination of a mouth mask and spectacles results in a misting over of the spectacle lenses, a problem which, also for the microscoping surgeon, had not been resolved up till now.